


all that glitters

by thewhitebirds



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: Backstory, Careers (Hunger Games), District 2, Gen, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Mentors, Non-Graphic Violence, Origin Story, Rebellion, The Arena, The Capitol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-18
Updated: 2016-07-18
Packaged: 2018-07-24 17:05:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7516289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thewhitebirds/pseuds/thewhitebirds
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You'll go by Lyme once you're there, darling. It's more memorable." He lights a cigarette and examines her appraisingly through the swirl of smoke. "You're very smart. I think --" he pauses "-- you lead the pack, and then you fuck them over."</p><p>--</p><p>Before she was Commander Lyme, she was Aurelia Lyme, and won the Hunger Games not for Panem, but for District 2 (today, tomorrow, and forever).</p>
            </blockquote>





	all that glitters

**Author's Note:**

> An origin story, because there's not enough written about Lyme -- her stories and those of District 2 have been swirling around my head forever.

_What are the roots that clutch, what branches grow  
Out of this stony rubbish? _  

*

Aurelia Lyme grows up dirt poor. This is something she'll think about when she hears Haymitch and Chaff make snide comments about District Two's privilege.

She'd like to know: where was all that fucking privilege when they were starving?

Her town is on what used to be the Colorado/New Mexico border, and it's called Los Arboles, which is a joke because there are no trees, though some people's grandparents claim _their_ grandparents remember them. There's nothing now but quarries and hard ground and harder people.

Even from the beginning, she knows she's special. Even from the beginning, she knows she has to get out.

*

"District Two is valued by the Capitol for our loyalty and for the stone we mine. The Capitol needs us, and we need the Capitol. Panem today, Panem tomorrow, Panem forever."

Tiberius is six. He applauds his older sister, dark eyes rapt.

Their mother's lips purse. "That's what you learned today, huh?" She pauses, stirs the pot. This is another day of thin, watery soup.  "District Two, Lia," she finally says, voice low. "District Two today, tomorrow, and forever. That's all there is."

Aurelia nods like she understands, even though she doesn't.

*

The scouts come just after the new year, and Aurelia leaves Los Arboles with them for the District Center. To be chosen by was a hazy dream she indulged once or twice -- it means food and academy trainers, a stable career out of the mines, a stipend for her family. The thought of being a Peacekeeper gives her excited goosebumps. She knows she would be stationed in Four. She's never seen the ocean, but the television makes it look like a moving piece of turquoise.

She excels at everything. She aces Tactics and Strategy; swords and spears become extensions of her arms, and it slowly dawns on her that Peacekeeper isn't what she wants. Greed is a fire inside her throat, and she stares at the rows of columned houses surrounded by trees on her days off, behind the wrought-iron gates.

To the victors go the spoils.

*

Aurelia is chosen the day after her eighteenth birthday along with Gaius Fieldstone. Her heart clamors loudly as her mother and Tiberius enter the Justice Building, eyes widening as they take in the elaborate fixtures. She hasn't seen them in almost a year -- Tiberius is tall and gangly, and her mother seems shrunken, somehow.

"What's carved on the door outside?"

"It's some dead language," Aurelia shrugs. "It means something like 'it is sweet and glorious to die for one's country.'"

"You know what's even sweeter, Lia?" Tiberius whispers in her ear while they hug. "Living."

*

Darius and Claudia are the mentors this year. Both are originally from Peacekeeping families in the north, where they've always had enough to eat. Claudia is all business, cold and sharp, equipped with lists and plans.

Darius makes Aurelia nervous. He's legendary in Two for being trouble -- he starts fights, drips contempt and ingratitude, has a cocaine habit. According to the trainers, he's always in the tabloids (though she doesn't know what those are).

"Aurelia," he smirks. Though it's early morning, his hand is wrapped around a glass of scotch. The train rattles by wheat fields. "It means golden child, right?"  
  
She nods, eyes narrowed with suspicion.

"You'll go by Lyme once you're there, darling. It's more memorable." He lights a cigarette and examines her appraisingly through the swirl of smoke. "You're very smart. I think --" he pauses "-- you lead the pack, and then you fuck them over."

*

The arena that year is canyons, harsh and unforgiving. The boy and girl from One are whiners. Four's tributes are boisterous. Lyme and Gaius take charge -- _we know rocks_ , she says wryly -- and for days they pursue other tributes and scarce water.

She kills, and the sword falls from the sky. She kills again and they get insulated water bottles; Gaius kills and they get hot food. The roteness is something she'll think about she's Commander Lyme -- no one will believe that there's tedium to the Hunger Games, but then, they only televise the good stuff.

*

The Career pack disintegrates over missing food. One and Four blame each other, and Gaius is killed in middle of it. Lyme watches it happen with a steely gaze. She isn't injured at all. The food is in her backpack.

*

In the end, it's her and the boy from Seven -- a rock dashed against her skull, a sword through his chest. Her vision is starting the blur when she pushes him over the canyon ridge for good measure. As the trainers used to say, tie up your loose ends.

*

When Lyme wakes up, there's only the blinding whiteness of the hospital. She sees the shadowy profile of her mentor and immediately smells scotch.

"'You're drinking," her voice is a rasp.

A chuckle. "Seems your brain function wasn't impacted after all, darling." Impeccably dressed, Darius looks weary, more haggard than he did on the train.

"Thanks for all… the gifts." Today, she's foggy and warm, cocooned in hospital blankets. Not tomorrow, but eventually, she'll learn where money comes from and the kind of things the Capitol does to you that make you drink in the morning. Then, she'll throw up.

For now, he kisses her cheek and stands up to leave. "Welcome back."

*

"Congratulations, Lyme." President Snow's voice feels like goosebumps. She can smell the blood. "What you've done goes beyond you and your district. This is for all of Panem."

 _But I didn't do it for all of Panem_ , Aurelia thinks suddenly, and when she looks back, she'll wonder if this is when the nagging itch, the seed of discontent really starts. _I did it for Two_.

The President's smile is still locked in place -- he seems to expect an answer. She smiles back. The crown on her head is suddenly very heavy. "Today, tomorrow, and forever."


End file.
